Overview: Join the Oak Spring Garden Foundation (OSGF) and Michael Gaige for a day exploring plant communities and interpreting the landscape on a Northern Virginia section of the Appalachian Trail. This section traverses a number of interesting ecological areas including pine knobs, rocky slopes, rich hardwood hollows, and distant views. Stone walls, old fields, and abandoned homesites make it all the more interesting providing the perfect adventure to analyze and unpack the formation of various plant arrangements and their response to ecological and human disturbances.
What to Expect: In total, the hike will cover about 6.5 miles (with about 1,500 feet of elevation gain and loss) and is best suited for participants experienced in moderate to strenuous hikes of approximately the same distance. As this is a one-way trail, once started, participants must be able to complete the hike. Participants will initially meet at the Snickers Gap trailhead where an OSGF van will transport the group to the start point of the hike. The hike will end at the same trailhead near parked cars. Note outside of an outhouse, there will not be any restrooms available on the trail so please plan accordingly.
Participants should arrive prepared for an all-day adventure with proper footwear, sufficient water, additional snacks and appropriate dress for the weather, rain or shine. Binoculars and digital cameras encouraged.
The pace of the hike will accommodate discussion of the landscape and breaks but will be attentive to concluding on time.
Complimentary Items: A boxed lunch will be provided. When purchasing ticket(s) for lunch, you will select either:
1) A turkey sandwich
Or
2) A gluten-free, vegan option
Exact menus will be determined closer to the date of the event. All lunches will include a small side such as a fruit salad, or chips. Please note that unfortunately, we can not accommodate specific dietary needs. If you have dietary restrictions and are unable to eat the provided lunch, please plan to pack a sack lunch.
Tickets: $50
Event Guide: Michael Gaige is an independent consulting ecologist based in upstate New York. His work explores the intersection of nature, culture, and history at the landscape level. Michael works with organizations, private landowners, and design teams on park and landscape projects, historical ecology inventories, and conservation planning for natural areas. He wrote detailed historical and landscape inventories for the Oak Spring Garden Foundation main site and its adjacent Rokeby farm. Michael teaches field studies programs for several colleges and universities.